The dream he needed most was the dream that frightened him more.
In 1974, when the city of Boston was desegregating its schools, I watched the news with my dad and saw the police escorts in riot gear, the protesters screaming at the buses, small frightened faces in their windows.
There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him.
I don’t ‘support the troops’ or any of those other hollow and hypocritical platitudes uttered by Republicans and frightened Democrats. Here’s what I do support: I support them coming home. I support them being treated well.
Though politicians and media eminences are too frightened to say so, nonmarital births are problematic. On just about any measure of development you can think of, children who are born to unmarried women fare worse than the children of divorce and far worse than children raised in intact families.
I feel that Indian women are too frightened. They all say, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that.’ Worse, their families don’t support them.
Most of the things I do are inspired by things that frightened me when I was young.
I’m one of those fellows so frightened of driving that I go 80 miles an hour – and the more frightened I get, the faster I go.
The doctor gave me several warnings: Never tell anyone unless necessary, because I might be ostracized. Call it ‘seizure disorder,’ not epilepsy, because fewer people would be frightened. Try to choose a profession as free from stress as possible.
I’m not likely to be attracted to characters I’ve already done. I have to be almost frightened by the possibility of taking it on. Over the years, I realise I must enjoy walking that edge; I keep doing it.
People are very frightened in publishing at the moment. Nobody knows what sells. More so now because the market’s changing so fundamentally because of Kindle and electronic publishing. It’s a fundamental shift in the way stories are put out into the world.
I don’t vacation on the water. I’m a pale-skinned redhead; I get sunburned out there. I’m a little frightened of the ocean, in fact. But I just know there’s great drama out there.
I had always loved John Ford’s pictures. And I came to love him, too, but I was frightened to death working for him. He used the shock treatment while directing me.
I think America has dealt with – I mean, this is simplistic, and of course I don’t live in America – but the impression I get is that there is not a kind of obligation to dislike those who are better off or be frightened of those who are worse off.
To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have gone to Hollywood if I hadn’t been offered ‘Ugly Betty’ because I was a wee bit feart. But you have to make yourself frightened. That’s what keeps you alive.
During past years, like frightened children, we were afraid to eat the strong meat of human rights and instead sucked the milk of civil rights from the breasts of white liberals, black Uncle Toms, and Aunt Jemimas.
When I left home at 17, I became successful astronomically fast. But I think my parents were so frightened of me failing that they focused on that more than my success.
In general, I think people are worried about saying the wrong thing to any grieving person. On a very basic level, I think they’re frightened of touching off tears or sorrow, as though someone tearing up at the mention of unhappy news would be the mentioner’s fault.
A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.
I will say that when I first came out to the States to work on ‘Jericho,’ that was the only time that I’ve ever been frightened about a job, because in America they tell stories over such a long time, and I was petrified that I’d get bored.
Parents become very good at not hearing the explicit words and listening instead to what the child means but doesn’t yet know how to say: ‘I’m lonely, in pain, frightened’ – distress which then unfairly comes out as an attack on the safest, kindest, most reliable thing in the child’s world: the parent.
I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given. I’d be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.
I was brought up a Jew but, you know, that way of being Jewish – the New York way. We were stomach Jews; we were Jewish-joke Jews. We were bagel Jews. We didn’t go to synagogue. I’m frightened of synagogue to this day.
Saudi Arabia is a frightened monarchy. It’s beset by Sunni extremists from the Islamic State and Shiite extremists backed by Iran.
Frightened people want to protect themselves, sometimes without thinking about others. Often, they get angry and want to find someone to blame for catastrophe. Inevitably, they spread information without checking if it’s true.
Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves.
God has given such brave soldiers to this Crown that, if they do not frighten our neighbours, at least they prevent us from being frightened by them.
I wouldn’t, a little bit frightened but throughout my life I’d learnt that when you’re in the serious situations, you’ve got to try to stay calm. Because that’s the way you get out of them.
For the broadcast business to be successful, viewers need to be not merely interested in our political melodramas, they have to be in an absolute state about them – emotionally invested in the outcome and frightened not to watch what happens next.
When I started out rapping, I became very frightened by the idea that people were trying to pigeonhole me. That’s usually what happens to most female rappers. They fit in a box and there’s a prototype or person they’re compared to.
I think all actors get scared because we’re frightened to disappoint.
When I first posted pictures of me braless, there were so many different reactions. I could have been frightened and hide, but I didn’t. I wanted people’s prejudices to disappear.
I think change is good because it teaches you that it’s nothing to be frightened of.
I like normal stuff people fear – like spiders and heights. I’m frightened by the unknown, by things that are hard to figure out and get a grip on.
How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.
When I realised that I had feelings for men as well as women, at first I was worried and frightened, and there was a certain amount of ‘Who am I? Am I a criminal?’ and so on. It took me a long time to come to terms with myself. Those were painful years – painful then and painful to look back on.
I’m easily frightened, and I’ve also come to realize that old Catholic guilt or remorse is easily stimulated.
My father in the film – which we probably haven’t seen in previous movies, and in British Asian movies you could probably count on one hand – he says exactly why, actually why he’s frightened for his daughter. He came to this country, England, and had a bit of a crappy time.
I was genuinely frightened when I saw the Daleks. These ridiculous-looking things absolutely get to the core of you when you’re standing in front of one.
Maybe it’s because my mother divorced and my grandmother divorced, so maybe I’m frightened deep down. But then I also feel there is no real need. Why do I need to get married? To reassure me? No I don’t need reassurance.
Some actors are frightened and concentrating so hard on their own performance, you don’t feel that anything you do makes any difference. They’re just kicking a ball against a wall, so to speak.
Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.
Better be killed than frightened to death.
When I was a child and they burned me out of my home, I was frightened and I ran away. Eventually I ran far away. It was to a place called France. Many of you have been there, and many have not. But I must tell you, ladies and gentlemen, in that country I never feared. It was like a fairyland place.
Being in the public eye makes you frightened to talk openly about things – which is precisely why you should. You can really make a difference and open up subjects that are taboo.
I don’t think I’ve ever frightened myself before when writing, but there were areas where there was terror, as though I was looking into somewhere that I didn’t know existed before, and it frightened me.
If you have to be frightening, you need some actors around you to be really frightened. And if they’re not frightened, you’re not so frightening anymore. In the same way, people say, ‘I think you come in, and you’re really sexy’. But how do you play sexy? It depends on the eyes that are looking.
I had no idea who I was when I started. I was frightened to death and had no natural performing skills.
As a nation, we English tend to be self-deprecating, looking down on ourselves. We’re insular but also flexible, whereas in Germany, it’s a case of besser wissen – we know better. That’s very Deutsch. People are never frightened to tell you what you’re doing wrong, in a way that would never happen in England.
Ironically, it is when we identify with our spirits rather than our bodies that we are most powerful on the material plane. Our overidentification with the world does not give us power within the world so much as it diminishes our power here. It makes us frightened and nervous and full of anxiety.
